Adaptation of manga about Jesus and Buddha living in modern Tokyo opens May 10th

The anime movie adaptation of Hikaru Nakamura's (Arakawa Under the Bridge)comedy manga about Jesus and Buddha rooming together in modern Tokyo, Saint Young Men, opens in Japan on May 10th, and the promo banners have started going up over Tokyo. The movie's official Twitter feed and the manga's editor have started posting spottings.

Film, TV and stage actor Mirai Moriyama (Water Boys) takes the role of Jesus, while Buddha will be played by musician/actor Gen Hoshino (Akihabara@Deep).

Animator Noriko Takao (Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, The IdolM@aster) steps up to direct, with scripts by live action drama writer Rika Nezu. Animator Naoyuki Asano (the openings for Blood-C and And Yet the Town Moves, four of the last Doraemon films) is handling character designs. A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online, Blue Exorcist, Anohana, Idolm@ster, and Space Brothers) will be producing the project.

------Scott Green is editor and reporter for anime and manga at geek entertainment site Ain't It Cool News. Follow him on Twitter at @aicnanime.